Day of Chaos
by Kuro Shiro Sama-Sama
Summary: Knuckles and Tikal living peaceful lives together on Angel Island guarding the Master Emerald. One day everything changes when a new threat comes to the island and threatens to destroy the world! Note: this is one part in the "Sonic Forces: At Full Force" Saga that rewrites the Rise of Infinite Comic as well as Episode Shadow to make them more satisfying in terms of story (PART 2).


**This is part 2 in what I'm calling the "Sonic Forces: At Full Force" saga, which is a series of fanfics where I try to rewrite the entirety of Sonic Forces in a way that feels more satisfying in terms of story and attempts to repair the plot holes and inconsistencies within the vanilla Forces SEGA has given us. Before writing up my own version of Sonic Forces the game, I've been writing up my own versions of the 4 preview comics that were released on Twitter up til the day Sonic Forces was released.**

 **So far my comic adaptations have consisted of adapting Rise of Infinite (called 'Creating a Phantom') and Looming Shadow while also combining it with the Episode Shadow DLC (uncreatively called 'Episode Shadow: Looming Shadow')**

 **This story is me trying to rewrite the comic "Stress Test" - which I personally feel is the weakest of the bunch and brings about a few more plot holes because it's established that in Forces' universe we still have things like the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald to worry about. The comic is effective in that it shows the Phantom Ruby's power of illusions but at the same time we never do see the emeralds in-game and The Master Emerald isn't brought up as a possible way to put a stop to Infinite's or Eggman's plans – leaving the fate of Angel Island uncertain and that mcguffin as nostalgia bait for old fans. I found this comic particularly difficult to adapt for this reason (which is why I jumped the gun and wrote part 3 – Episode Shadow: Looming Shadow before this one.)**

 **My first solution: If you're going to bring back the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald in Forces' universe, bring Tikal back as well (and I have some interesting headcanons regarding her existence in general that I'll show within the story itself).**

 **My second solution: Decide what level of intelligence Knuckles has AND STICK WITH IT! Forces did bring back the smart Knuckles everyone seems to have wanted, but then the dumb Knuckles fans rioted over how he should be dumb. The way Sonic Team treats Knuckles' intelligence occasionally makes me wonder if this character has Asperger's Syndrome (and I say that as a person WITH Aspergers'!)...**

 **Those are my two major ones in regards to Stress Test and Sonic in general. With that out of the way, let's get on with the story:**

 **Day of Chaos**

On a day like any other, Knuckles the Echidna sat next to the Master Emerald as he looked out at the ocean from his place in the sky. Angel Island floated above the world, nothing to disturb it or force it to crash into the sea. Everything was normal, peaceful, without incident.

He couldn't help but love the peace and quiet on Angel Island. While he did love the thrill of adventures on the world down below and teaming up with Sonic did comes with it's own rewards, this simple and quaint life and the acceptance that he was the last of his kind were enough for him.

Peace had been restored to Angel Island a long time ago and it remained that way for years. He would probably live the rest of his life on Angel Island guarding the Master Emerald. He was fine with this. It was his duty as the last remaining echidna who could even handle it's power.

He sighed in content with his life. "Another good day today. Peace and quiet. Nothing to bother me. How could it possibly get any better than this?"

The Master Emerald hummed, glowing a warm glow that forced him to scoot away from it so not to overheat. The humming stopped. Beside him now sat his ancestor Tikal and while she would occasionally be let out of the Master Emerald to watch Angel Island in his place, every time she appeared still surprised him.

She turned to him, smile on her face. "How have things been?"

He scratched his head, blushing a bit. "I've been fine... Island's been fine..."

She shrugged with the same little smile on her face. "No adventures or news I should know about?"

"Nothing really." Knuckles muttered, never really knowing how to talk to the only female echidna he knew (and even then she was sort of a ghost with a physical form bound to Angel Island). "What about you?"

"I'm at peace. I'm always at peace in the Master Emerald." she stretched her arms. "But when I come out here I get the chance to exercise and live like how I used to. I don't mind it either way. But being outside the Master Emerald means I can talk to you too!"

Every now and then he reflected on Tikal's life story. His very ancestors – her father – ended up killing her and yet she was so content just to sit down at talk to the last living member of her tribe so casually and someone who resembled her killer no less! It confused him, but perhaps she was as content as he was with her life on Angel Island. That was the impression he got from her anyway. Perhaps this level of contentment with such a simple life (or after life) was a trait he inherited from someone like her...

"Knuckles, if I may ask... Why do you want to stay here?" Tikal asked, a look of concern in her eyes. "I know you feel a need to guard the Master Emerald and the island as much as I do but you're able to live a life beyond the bounds of the island too..."

At times like this she sounded like a concerned grandmother despite looking forever 14. These little bouts of concern for her ancestor is the reason why Knuckles occasionally called her 'grandma' whenever anyone else asked about her.

While she was correct about him being able to travel and live life away from Angel Island if he really wanted to, he sort of had no life to live on the land below aside from going on adventures with Sonic (and what kind of life was that?)

"Has nothing gone on in the time that I've been away?" Tikal asked again. "Please, don't hold anything back! I can handle it! Even if it's bad news! You don't have to hide anything from me!"

Knuckles chuckled, placing a hand on the echidna girl's head. "Don't worry too much grandma. If I had any exciting stories to tell you, I would've! But I just don't have any right now."

"So nothing exciting?"

"Nope!"

Tikal pouted. "What kind of grandson are you?"

That got a laugh out of Knuckles because while she didn't necessarily accept the 'grandma' label, she did occasionally embrace it jokingly – and she could certainly pull it off.

She sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "It is somewhat unfortunate that you're my only link to the outside world... I can't leave the island looking the way I do now. I can't be touched, I can't be seen, I lose every sense and desire that make me feel alive."

"What is it like being a little red light?" Knuckles asked – something he hadn't asked her before but felt like he should've asked a long time ago.

"It's like gliding but without your body. It feels weightless. You can actually fly anywhere you want in that form but it's still sad you know... I can't be the me you see now should I leave the island."

"But what if the island crashed down to the surface again?"

"I'd still be here the way you see me now, but if I left the island I'd turn into that light again – if that!" she could only hypothesize as she hadn't left Angel Island since her first adventure with Knuckles and his other friends that happened so long ago. She didn't dare to try.

"But let's say..." Knuckles pondered. "Say I took a chunk of the ground from Angel Island to the surface... Would you still look and act the way you do now as long as you're attached to the land?"

Such a suggestion surprised Tikal, a look of disbelief in her big blue eyes and wondering if such an outlandish plan would work. "I... I wouldn't know..."

"Instead of you being up here all the time and relying on me to tell you stories, you should find a way to make a few of your own!" Knuckles said, patting the head of the younger/older echidna next to him, "We're in a time of peace right now, so now would be the perfect time to test the idea!"

"But who's to say it would even work?"

"We won't know until we find out!"

"But what would Chaos think?! If we both left the island he'd probably get angry, especially with me..." Tikal sighed. "The fact of the matter is that I shouldn't leave Angel Island even if such a plan did work. I have a duty to watch the emerald and take care of Chaos..."

Knuckles sighed as well, feeling like his idea was stupid and forgetting about a certain water god who nearly destroyed the world twice because the Chao he watched over and his favorite echidna were hurt.

"I'm sorry Knuckles. Really I am... I know you don't mean anything bad by it!" she tried to reassure her red companion that he did nothing wrong, but could tell that he still felt guilty about even bringing the idea up to her.

Chaos had been her only friend for years and the one who tried to avenge her and the Chao. There was no way she would leave him. Even convincing Chaos to let her leave the island could invoke his rage once again...

"Are you really happy being here though?" Knuckles asked. "You ask me for stories every time you come out of the emerald. The last time I was on the surface I even asked Tails if it would be possible to get cable up here so at least you'd have something to occupy your time!"

"Tails is the little fox boy, right?"

"Yeah."

"You really asked if getting this 'cable' thing was possible?"

"Yeah."

"Not cable as in 'rope' or 'chord', right?"

"A different kind of cable that would require a TV."

"What's a TV?"

"You're proving my point, Tikal! You should be able to have fun and go places! Have your own adventures! Maybe you could come with me on some of mine!" Knuckles flexed his muscles, trying to look strong and make her smile again to no avail. "Why not have a talk with Chaos about you going off the island?"

"I'm afraid to."

"Tikal, if Chaos is being mean to you then-!"

"It's not just about Chaos getting angry..." she grabbed Knuckles' hand. "It's really not about Chaos being mad at me or him destroying the world! It's something else... You see it, don't you?"

"See what?" he asked with a tilt of the head.

"When I'm able to be like this with you on the island... When I'm able to watch over the Master Emerald when you're away... Haven't you noticed that I come around and stay around the longest when the world is in danger?"

He thought about it for a minute. Aside from maybe the one or two short and random visits she made per month, she stuck around longest when the world was in danger or when he left the island to go on adventures whether they involved stopping one of Eggman's schemes, meeting friends or otherwise. "When you put it that way, you're right! You don't stay around long if there's no reason to watch the Master Emerald!"

"Exactly..." she hesitated, squeezing his hand. "That's another reason why I don't feel comfortable with the idea of leaving the island..."

"So do you think that something bad is going to happen?"

"I don't know. I can't tell! But I do feel like we should prepare for something big... You'll help me, won't you?"

"Of course!" Knuckles stood up, putting the hand that Tikal squeezed on the Master Emerald. "No one's going to steal the Master Emerald! Not when we're together!"

Over the years he had gotten better at not being so naive and trusting when it came to entrusting others with the precious stone of his people (with some help from Tikal of course). No one had even attempted to steal the Master Emerald for a very long time and so he assumed her worry came from someone trying to steal it after such a long period of it being here undisturbed. But he wouldn't let anyone get to it – he was certain of it.

"I appreciate your assistance..." she sighed, hands together and looking down at the steps of the temple where the Master Emerald was housed. "I just really hope nothing bad happens any time soon."

"Wait, so what ARE you afraid of?" he asked with a tilt of the head. "If it's the emerald we have it covered. What else is there to worry about, Tikal?"

"Doesn't the air feel a little strange to you? Like something or someone has entered our world and they don't belong here?" she asked. "Of course it never hurts to be cautious of the Master Emerald but that's not the cause of the bad feeling I'm getting. It has to do with the world in general..."

"Someone coming to Angel Island?"

"Not just Angel Island – I mean the world as a whole!"

"Like more characters from other dimensions then?"

Tikal shook her head in confusion, making herself more nervous. "I really hope I'm just in over my head with all of this! I don't want to trouble you or anything!"

It was at that moment, seeing his ancestor so nervous that Knuckles felt the most concerned. The air did feel slightly different when she brought it up but he couldn't imagine the reason as to why it was so or what could've possibly changed to make it this way.

The change wasn't caused by any of the emeralds either – they would've been able to tell if it was something wrong with any of the emeralds! Tikal was certain that it wasn't the root cause of her worries either. It was something else neither had any experience with before and that fact alone was starting to get on his nerves.

A harsh wind blew in from the east, sending Tikal back a few steps as she stood up. Still looking at the ground and uttered something like a prayer to herself before asking her ancestor: "Knuckles, if I may ask... What if this feeling I'm getting is something neither of us are prepared for? What if it's something that chaos energy can't fix?"

Such a question forced Knuckles to think about that possibility and while he didn't show it or want to admit it, such a thought actually scared him. He didn't want his home to fall into ruin again or have some evil jerk with an agenda blow the world to smithereens and disrupt this peaceful life he'd been living.

Tikal sighed. "I shouldn't have asked... I'm really sorry."

"No... Don't blame yourself." he walked to her, hugging her and patting her back and hearing her squeak when his chest touched hers. "We'll be fine. I'll take care of it."

 **Chapter end**


End file.
